Remember…it’s a bad idea to go to the grocery store hungry

Nine years ago, when I was rebuilding my life, I finally received a big payment from one of my clients. Prior to this, I had just about exhausted my money and had been on a very strict daily meal plan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or Kraft Mac & Cheese everyday for about three weeks. No meats, cheeses, fruits or any real variety. And even with this, I was basically continuously hungry everyday.

Now, as I was just starting a business, I was on a strict budget for food – no more than $50.00 a week.- So, when I got this windfall, the first thing I decided to do was go to the grocery store and get some real food! 🙂

I remember getting to the store, excited by the prospect of getting fresh veggies, fruits, meats and other staples to make nutritious meals that would continue to energize me all while staying within my budget. 🙂

In fact, the things that looked the best, were not the things necessarily good for me or my budget, but the things that my mind/body said I NEEDED to quash my hunger:

– Donuts!– Cookies!– Pizzas!-Frozen, prepared meals!

No matter what my logical, rational mind may have been thinking, my primal brain took over. When I finally left the store, I not only had a lot of ‘junk’, but I had also overspent by almost double!!

I am sure you may have have experienced this similar situation.

And you may be wondering “But, JT, what does this have to do with success in building my business, career, etc?”

The reason I point out this story is that any situation where your brain feels it is in ‘desperation mode’ will make you vulnerable to your brains desire to get you out of that state as fast as possible.

Basically, your mind is in ‘desperation mode‘ and will push you towards making decisions and choices that override choices that are more logical, thought out and safer. Your brain has evolved to try everything in its power to get out of a desperate state.

“) call this the ‘Click-Whrrr’ response – a state where a situation or cognitive-bias causes us to fall into a pre-recorded ‘script’ of behavior that we are generally not aware of or have much control over.

And just like my experience with the grocery store, this same truth applies to our careers, sales situations and business decisions.

See if any of the following ring true –

If you are desperate to find a way to “make money” or get out of your current boring job or situation:

Suddenly, the “magic formulas”, “quick money schemes” and the lottery look like the best and fastest way out of this state. Your brain, in spite of the fact that you may even know that they are too good to be true, will start coming up with reason why maybe this time, you might just get lucky…(Click-Whrrr…)

If you are desperate for sales of your product:

You get a thought that perhaps you should lower your price, give a bigger discount ‘just to a few customers’, spend more than you had planned on advertising, buy the latest and greatest new-shiny marketing and advertising tool that will ‘increase your conversion by 50% overnight’ – in fact, but a bunch of them…(Click-Whrrr…)

If you are desperate for growth in your business:

Suddenly, getting a loan to pump up short term investing, looking for investors and giving away too much equity or even deciding that your strategy is wrong and quit or jump to another market/product may all start to look good…(Click-Whrrr…)

Any of these sound familiar? If they do, then you have fallen victim to a ‘desperation mindset’…and you need to take steps to re-wire your thinking and act to get out of desperation mode.

It is not easy. It takes discipline, faith and persistence. It takes the definition and then strict adherence to a strategic plan. It takes the development of habits and a mindset that teach your brain new patterns to run when faced with these situations.